News

Some COVID-19 restrictions will be relaxed in Michigan beginning Monday, but the ban on inside restaurant service will continue. This afternoon, Governor Gretchen Whitmer said that progress in bringing infection rates down across the state warrants the resumption of some activities – but only those in which masks can be …

The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed another Copper Country community event. Heikinpäivä will not be held next month.  Members of the City of Hancock’s Finnish Theme Committee said they couldn’t come up with a way to do justice to the tradition and spirit of the event, and still conduct it in …

Santa will be making his final visits to the Copper Country Saturday. He will visit the Baraga Fire Hall for a drive-through Christmas party between 11:00 and 1:00. Kids are invited to wave at Santa, drop off letters to him, and register to win gifts. The L’Anse Christmas drive-through event …

Despite the lack of natural snow, Mont Ripley will open Saturday. General Manager Nick Sirdenis says they’ve been able to make enough snow to begin operations. He also says they’ve implemented new COVID19-related safety measures. That includes reducing face-to-face transactions for equipment rentals and lift tickets by upgrading the website, …

There will be no formal commencement ceremony this weekend, but Michigan Tech is still saluting almost 700 students who completed their degrees at the end of the fall semester. More than 350 undergraduate diplomas will be awarded. Nearly 330 graduate degrees will be conferred, including 53 doctorates. One part of …

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the western Upper Peninsula has passed 3,000, but the rate of increase seems to be slowing. The most recent report from the Western U.P. Health Department includes 59 more confirmed positives since the previous update was issued Monday night. 35 of those were …

Aspirus Keweenaw has begun vaccinating employees against COVID-19. Hospital officials say the first shipment of the Pfizer vaccine arrived yesterday, and inoculations began immediately. The Laurium hospital was the first in the Aspirus system to receive the vaccine. Not enough doses were included in the initial shipment to vaccinate all …

Former Hancock City Manager Dave Richards has died. Richards led Hancock’s city government in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. He also served several cities in Alaska and California, before becoming city manager of New Buffalo, Michigan, in 2017. The South Bend Tribune reports that Richards was hospitalized with COVID-19 …

 A recount of presidential votes in Antrim County has resulted in no appreciable difference in the result. Antrim County has been in the national spotlight after a clerical mistake on election night caused an erroneous vote total to be reported. The error was quickly corrected, but conspiracy theorists latched on …

Six men have been indicted by a federal grand jury for their alleged roles in a conspiracy to kidnap the Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta each face up to life in prison if convicted. Fox, Garbin, Franks, Harris, …